The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn weighs in regarding the NHL’s major awards races, including the Calder Trophy, “By the Numbers” (as it were):
So far it’s a strong crop of rookies, but the two that have been most eye-popping both play for Detroit. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider have been revelations for the upstart Red Wings, more than any reasonable person might have expected to start the season. Raymond is leading the team in points with 22 in 24 games, a 75-point pace, while Seider has 16 points which translates to 55 points over 82 games. That’s stellar for a couple of rookies, but they’ve also been strong at five-on-five too. Raymond has helped the team’s top line look elite on a nightly basis while Seider has been the two-way presence this team has desperately been missing. Raymond is playing at a 2.6-win pace while Seider is at a two-win pace. That’s very close to elite calibre for their respective positions.
Those two aren’t the only special rookies this year though. Bowen Byram may just have Seider beat among defencemen with him scoring at a slightly higher rate (nine points in 13 games) and looking even stronger at five-on-five (57 percent expected goals rate). Byram gets the benefit of playing with more talented teammates, but he’s still been exceptional. As if the Avalanche needed more talented defenders. Up front, Dawson Mercer gets high marks, though that looks to be mostly due to a juiced goals percentage. He’s been strong with 14 points in 20 games, but not this strong. Trevor Zegras also hopped into the top five after a strong three-assist performance Wednesday night which put him on a 63-point pace. The 56 percent expected goals rate isn’t bad either.
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